Looking for a new career path?

31 Jul 2017

3 min read

A new career is one of the best ways to change your life for the better. The transition can be daunting – having to think deeply about who you are, what you’re good at, and what you really want - but it can be done if you follow some simple steps.

The major signs you need a career change

Are you sitting at work, day after day, feeling like you’re losing your soul, or not getting paid enough?

In a Harvard Business Review article1, talent management expert, Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic, CEO of Hogan Assessment Systems, says there are five signs you need a new career: you’re not learning; you’re underperforming; you feel undervalued; you are just doing it for the money; and you hate your boss.

But how do you make the change?

5 key steps to forging a new career

1. Work out your ideal working situation

The first step is to work out what you really want. Are you looking for work which may be more fulfilling emotionally and spiritually without losing out financially?

A good exercise is to sit down and map out your ideal day. How do you want it to pan out? Does it, for example, mean spending more time helping people?

2. Do a strengths audit: what are you best suited to?

Another helpful exercise is to work out what you’re really good at. Your current career might not be exploiting your full potential. You may be desk bound, but your love of interacting with people means you’d be better out in the field or selling.

Another option is to review your past life and reflect on where you have been successful and what skills and strengths you used to achieve that success.

3. Work out where the opportunities are

When it comes to careers, it’s not just what we want, but what employers need: where are the demand and opportunities? Social commentator and demographer Bernard Salt says three key social trends - technology, outsourcing and an ageing population - will drive career opportunities. Salt suggests choosing careers where technology increases productivity rather than replaces people and where jobs cannot be outsourced to other countries. Healthcare and education both tick these boxes.

Then you need to match your strengths with those opportunities.

4. Upgrade your skills

Often a new career requires new skills. That could involve anything from undertaking a short course, self-directed study using the internet, or even a post-graduate degree.

Mr Salt notes that future careers require flexibility: the ability to train, up-skill and form relationships easily. “Flexibility, fluidity, agility and a positive, outgoing social demeanour – these to me are the skills of the worker of the future,” he says.

As sports journalist and presenter Cameron Williams put it, when interviewed for our Runway for Success video, “It’s important to stay employed and improve your ability to earn more and more money by staying relevant to the workforce.”

What’s stopping you?

Shifting to a new career is a challenge. But if you break it down and focus on yourself, and also the marketplace, there is nothing stopping you moving into a new, more satisfying or financially rewarding career.

As you define your future career, remember your superannuation. Your BT Super for Life account can be accessed through your online banking and can move with you, if you wish. Find out more.

BT Super for Life will transform the way you think about and manage your super, with valuable benefits for every life stage.

The information is current as at 31/07/2017.

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